House hunting

Intermediate

7 min

You are viewing a rental apartment with the landlord. Ask about terms, negotiate rent, and discuss move-in details.

An intermediate-level session of about 7 minutes.

The first real question — what the rent was a year ago — has to be asked out loud, to the face of the person hoping you will sign. Until then it is a pleasant walk through a few rooms with someone being hospitable. After it, you are two people with different interests, and you both know it. Both halves happen in the same three rooms, and only one of them is a friendly conversation. What makes it awkward is that the landlord is standing inside their own property while you point at things. You have to ask about the mark on the ceiling, about who pays when the geyser fails, about what happens if you leave after eight months, and then let the answer sit without softening the question with an apology that quietly takes it back.

Angles worth taking

Ask what the previous tenant did about the things you are pointing at, because that answer tells you more than a promise.
Separate what has been decided from what is being offered; anything agreed on the stairs needs to reach the written agreement.
Push once on repairs, on who calls the plumber and who pays for them, since it is rarely volunteered.
After you name a figure, stop talking. The pause is uncomfortable and it is very nearly the only pressure you have.
Ask what notice each side has to give, and what leaving early would actually cost you in practice.
Come back at a different hour if you can, because water, noise and light at seven in the evening are different.

Who is in the room

You play

A tenant looking for a new apartment

You speak with

A landlord showing their property

Phrases to reach for

These are shown to you before the session starts. They are what you are asked to use, not a list the scorer is checking off.

What is the monthly rent

Is the deposit refundable

Are utilities included

When can I move in

Could you come down a little on the rent

Ready to speak?

Free to start. You need a TalkDrill account to speak — reading this page does not.

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The format

Modes

Learn (guided) · Mock (exam-real)

How a roleplay session works

Read your brief

Your role, the situation, and what a good outcome looks like. The counterpart has their own brief, and you do not get to read it.

Open the conversation

You speak first in most scenarios. How you open sets what you can ask for later, which is most of the exercise.

Handle the turn

Somewhere in the middle it stops going your way — a refusal, a counter-offer, a rebuttal you did not prepare for. That moment is the scenario.

Read the report

Outcome, the phrases you used and the ones you missed, fluency and clarity, and the specific line worth rewriting.

What you're scored on

Across every roleplay, the report looks at the same four things — because they are what makes a real conversation work or fail.

Your objective

Find out all the details and negotiate a fair rent.

Task outcome

Whether you got what the brief asked for: the refund, the extension, the concession, the point conceded.

Appropriacy

Whether the register fits. A complaint that is too soft gets nothing; the same complaint too hard gets a manager and no refund.

Recovery

What you do with the unexpected turn — repair, rephrase, push back, or stall. This is where most of the marks move.

Delivery

Fluency, pronunciation and pace, judged in conversation rather than in a prepared monologue.

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